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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. saw — the tool
  3. rash — hasty
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. clip — for paper
  8. race — humankind
  9. clip — a video
  10. degree — from a university
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. root — the cause
  14. clip — to cut
  15. saw — the tool
  16. swing — in golf
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — of a word
  19. degree — an amount
  20. race — the arms race
  21. swing — music
  22. degree — temperature
  23. race — a contest
  24. calf — of the leg

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com